Ignition apparatus for gas-engines or the like.



No. 768,793. i PATENTED AUG. so,.1\9o4. H. 0. PGLGER.

IGNITION APPARATUS EUR GAS ENGINES OB. THE LIKE. "x

APPLICATION FILED 10150.18. 1903. N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented August 30, 1904.

PATENT OEEICE.

HENRY C. FOLGER, OF VEST SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN COIL COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CO- PARTNERSHIP.

IGNITION APPARATUS FOR GAS-ENGINES OR THE LIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 768,793, dated August 30, 1904. Application iled December 18, 1903. Serial N0. 185,631. (No model To ff/ZZ 7,071,077?, t infr/y concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY C. FoLGER, a citizen of the United States, residing' in Test Somerville, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Ignition Apparatus for Gras-Engines or the Like, of which the following' description, in connection with the accompanying' drawings, is a specification, like letters on the IO drawings representing like parts.

In certain classes of work, particularly in marine work, it has long been desired to employ the jump-spark form of apparatus in connection with gas-engines and the like; but the I5 tendency to short-circuit under such conditions has rendered this form of apparatus so unreliable as practically to eXclu de it from marine work, the secondary connections being liable to become short-circuited or have the 2O current dissipated unexpectedly by reason of the action of the salt water and dampness. It will be apparent that in marine work, as in no other class of work, it is vital that the spark should be invariably certain-as, for

instance, if on a lee-shore the sparking apparatus should break down the vessel is practically lost. If it were not for this unreliability, due to the short-circuiting of the secondary wire and connections, the jump-spark form of apparatus would at once be used, as

it is recognized to have more sparking efficiency and to be more economical in consumption of battery and wear and tear of parts.

Accordingly my invention has for its object the provision of means for enabling this form of apparatus to be effectively adapted to the class of work above explained and also has for a further object the provision of means which will prevent the transmission of the current through the engine, thereby eliminating' the serious objection heretofore existing in marine work of the liability of shock to thel engineer.

My invention will be more fully understood and more explicitly explained in the course of the following description, attention being directed to the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the latter being further defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a bottom plan view of one form of the apparatus. Fig. 2 shows the same in side elevation, parts being broken away. Figs. 3 and t are sectional dctails on the lines 3 3, Fig'. 2, and 4 4, Fig'. l, 55 respectively, showing the shell or containing'- case. Fig. 5 shows another form of the apparatus, partly in longitudinal section and partly in diagram.

My invention is applicable to any usual or preferred kind of jump-spark apparatus, the parts commonly composing' such an apparatus including' an induction-coil, a spark-plug, condenser, vibrator, battery or other source of current, and interrupter, the spark-plug being' mounted in the wall of an explosionchamber or adjacent one end of the enginecylinder and usually connected by suitable conductors in the circuit of the secondary of the inductioncoil located at some remote 7C? point wherever convenient the other parts also being located at various points to suit economy of space or other special requirements. My invention departs radically from this construction.

In the more elaborate form of my invention (shown in Figs. l to 1) it will be seen that I provide a shell A, preferably molded from hard rubber or otherwise formed of impermeable durable substance and comprising a 8O body portion a, containing a large chamber a', at one end of which is a smaller chamber a2, preferablyseparated from the induction-chamber by a wall ai, and at one side a mediumsized chamber a* for the condenser' and at the 85 opposite end a small chamber a" for a vibrator.

It will be understood that these chambers may be otherwise located and formed of different sizes and shapes, although for marine work the form and arrangement of case shown is preferred. The case as thus formed and arranged is made as nearly of one piece as possible and the openings therein, which are necessary in order to get the contents assembled, are thereafter tightly closed, the result being that the entire apparatus is housed compa-ctly as a single article, as shown in the drawings.

Mounted in the end as of the case A, containing the chamber a2, is a spark-plug a7, which may be of any kind suitable to the purpose. This spark-plug is herein shown as removably mountedon a threaded boss as, secured to an iron y plate a9, permanently fastened to the head a, the threaded external iron portion of the plug being' also provided with threads al", by means of which it may be mounted in usual position on the explosionchamber Z) of the engine, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, and the internal core com, of insulating material,which carries at its outer end an electrode L13 to coperate with the opposite elec-- trode au of the plug, extends inwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, in constant contact with a spring contact-maker a, secured at al to the wall a3. i

Vithin the chamber d is mounted the induction-coil (shown in its simpler form in Fig. 5) and having one end of its secondarys connected to the contact-maker au and the other end of said secondary being clamped beneath the plate a9. The primary p of the induction-coil has one end also clamped beneath said iron plate a9 and its other end soldered on the inner side or end of abinding-post. (Shown in Figs. l and 2 at al? and in Fig. 5 at als.)

In the chamber a* is a condenser c, herein shown as in shunt with the primary around the coil, the terminal am at one end thereof being soldered to the inner end of the bindingpost al? or als and the opposite terminal 1,20 thereof being secured to the under side of the iron plate a.

The chamber a5 is provided for avibrator (Z, which may be of any kind desired and is merely indicated herein without being shown in detail, being herein shown as operated by the coil contained in the chamber d, the latter being for this purpose wound in two parts on a U- shaped or horseshoe-shaped core am, the ends of which are offset at @22 to attract an armature 6023, cooperating with contact a2 on the opposite side of the wall azt, this vibrator being interposed in the primary, which is connected therewith at @25 and 027. If a vibrator is not used, the chamber a5 is simply omitted,-

astrous hitherto in connection with such trying situations as are met with in marine work, for example.

In use the plug is mounted in any convenient manner-fas, for instance, directly on the chamber b, as shown in Fig. 5. at the end of the engine-cylinder cgand the battery or other generator g is connected at one end to the binding-post a or als and at its other end is grounded, an interrupter being interposed in usual manner.

My mechanism renders it exceedingly simple to repair or attend to the plug or any of the parts, the case being entirelyself-contained, so that it can be screwed from the plug and the latter removed or any other part attended to. When the outer portion of the plug is unscrewed, the inner portion am may bc withdrawn, and the separate vchamber a2 permits this to be done without any possibilit-y of exposing the main parts of the apparatus contained in the other chambers. Also when a vibrator is employed the end of the case containing the same is preferably removable, so that thereby the vibrator may be readily attended to. The other parts are sealed up when originally made, and there is' no likelihood that they. will ever need attention. However, the construction is such that, if necessary, either chamber a a* (when the coil and condenser are kept in separate chambers) may be opened without disturbing the other,

As already intimated, many changes in form,

arrangement, and combination of parts may.

be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and while I prefer to employ all the parts together and to arrange them as herein shown it will be observed that certain of my claims are intended to be broad in scope and certain other claims are drawn to cover various subcombinations, while a few of the claims are more specific.

Having described my invention, what 4I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The herein-described means for adapting sparking' devices to marine work, consisting of an impervious case of heavy, durable, insulating material, provided with a coil-chamber, having an induction-coil sealed therein, a separate chamber containing a secondary contact, and a spark-plug held in the wall of said case in engagement with said contact.

2. Ignition apparatus for marine work, comprising a moisture-proof case of heavy, durable material, having a plurality of tightlyclosed chambers, and containing induction apparatus, and a spark-plug removably mounted in said case to enter one of said chambers, the latter chamber being entirely sealed from the rest of the case and receiving therefrom the terminals to cooperate with said plug.

3. Ignition apparatus for marine work, comprising induction apparatus sealed in a mois- IOO IOS

IIO

ture-proof case of heavy, durable material, a spark-plug removably mounted in the end of said case, and plug-retaining means coperating with said plug to tightly close the case thereat when the plug is in place.

4. Ignition apparatus for marine \vorl ,com prising induction apparatus sealed in a moisture-proof case, of heavy insulating material, having removably mounted in one end a sparkplug, threaded at its outer end for supporting the ignition apparatus on the engine.

5. Ignition apparatus for marine \vorl,com

prising induction apparatus sealed in a durable impervious case, having an iron plate tightly secured at one end and provided With plug-retaining means opening into the case, combined With a spark-plug adapted to be removably secured to said means, and, when so secured, having' one oi' its electrodes extending Within the case in operative relation with said induction apparatus.

6. Ignition apparatus Jfor marine Work, comprising induction apparatus, sealed in a durable, impervious case, having an iron plate tightly secured at one end and provided with plug-retaining means combined with a sparkplug held by said means, said plate constituting one conductor for said induction apparatus and the other being' provided by the sparkplug.

7. Ignition apparatus for marine Work, comprising a strong and durable moisture-proof case having a plurality of chambers, including a coil-chamber, vibrator-chamber, and

contact-containing chamber, said coil-cham ber being permanently and tightly partitioned from said other chambers and closed in operation but having' means for access thereto, combined With a spark-plug, and induction apparatus, including a vibrator.

8. Ignition apparatus for marine \voi'l{,com prising a strong' and durable moisture-proof case provided at one end with a spark-plug and having a plurality of chambers, a tivopart induction-coilWound on a U-shaped core being permanently sealed in one chamber, and a vibrator contained in another chamber, the ends ofsaid core beingoifset adjacent to the side of the case for economizing space in cooperation with the'vibrator and for alloving advantageous movement to the latter.

9. Ignition apparatus for marine work, comprising an impervious case of durable insulating material, containing an induction-coil, and having at one end a spark-plug mounted on a conductor-plate, one end of the primary and also of the secondary being connected to said plate and the other end ofthe secondary being connected to the insulated electrode of the plug.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY C. FOLGER.

fitnessesz GEO. H. MAXWELL, S. WVM. LUTTON. 

